Nonprofit news roundup, 05.02.14

Eleanor Schaffner-Mosh, a former principal for consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, has been named to the newly created position of deputy director at ArtsGreensboro, effective May 6.

Schaffner-Mosh, who will step down June 30 as chair of the board of directors of Carolina Theatre of Greensboro, will run the day-to-day operations of ArtsGreensboro, which operates with a $1.8 million annual budget and focuses on arts fundraising, advocacy, marketing and producing.

She also will manage relationships with grantmakers, grantees and arts community partners, and will work closely with Thomas Philion, ArtsGreensboro’s president and CEO, to strengthen relationships with supporters.

In addition to serving as board chair for Carolina Theatre, Schaffner-Mosh currently serves as community chair for Guilford Go Red For Women, and serves on the boards of JDRF, NCCJ and Triad Health Project.

Bush honored with national arts award

Robert E. Bush Jr., president of the Arts & Science Council in Charlotte, has been named 2014 recipient of the Selina Roberts Ottum Award.

Presented jointly by Americans for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, the award recognizes outstanding contributions in the local arts agency field.

Bush, who joined the Arts & Science Council in 2000 and served as senior vice president and chief innovation officer, was named president in March after serving as interim president since July 2013.

He previously was president and CEO of United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County, and at Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne in Indiana.

He also was director of development with the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, and executive director of Catawba County Council for the Arts, now United Arts Council of Catawba County.

Fine new CEO at FHI 360

Patrick C. Fine, who in April 2013 joined FHI 360 in Durham as chief operating officer, has begun his tenure as CEO of the international human development organization.

He succeeds Albert J. Siemans, whose retirement plans were announced in November 2013.

Before joining FHI 360, Fine held leadership positions at the U.S. Agency for International Development, Millennium Challenge Corporation, and Academy for Educational Development.

FHI 360 work focuses on development needs in health, education, livelihoods, nutrition, environment and other areas in multiple regions throughout the world.

Urban Ministries of Durham gets $100,000 bequest

Urban Ministries of Durham has received a $100,000 bequest, the largest gift it has received from an individual in its 30-year history.

The gift was from the late Ben Ward, a musician and philosophy professor in residence at Duke University who died in December.

Ward, who played the organ at the 1968 memorial service for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, volunteered at Urban Ministries two hours a day, five days a week, on average, for 20 years, or roughly 10,400 hours overall. His volunteer time was the equivalent of five years as a full-time employee working 40 hours a week.

Wilkesboro YMCA gets $100,000 from Tyson Foods

The Wilkes Family YMCA in Wilkesboro, part of YMCA of Northwest North Carolina, received a $100,000 donation from Tyson Foods, which has four facilities in North Carolina that employ over 5,000 people.

The YMCA’s Wellness Center will be named for the company.

Triangle United Way competition targets childhood hunger

United Way of the Greater Triangle has launched a competition aimed at reducing childhood hunger in the region.

The competition is open to businesses, nonprofits, groups and individuals in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties, with submissions due by June 12 and the winner to receive $50,000.

With nearly 100,000 children in the region qualifying for free and reduced lunches at school, and 20 percent of children in the region living in “food insecure” homes, United Way says, the goal of the competition is to encourage broad participation and find the most effective, innovative, long-term and strategic solutions.

Entries will be judged on the basis of social impact, “break-through potential,” feasibility, sustainability and scalability.

Urban walk to be held in Raleigh on May 3-4

Jane’s Walk, an international effort to encourage urban residents to experience their city by foot, will be held in Raleigh for the first time on May 3-4.

Launched in 2007, the walks honor the legacy and principles of urban activist Jane Jacobs. In May 2013 alone, over 800 walks were held in over 100 cities in 22 countries worldwide in May 2013 alone.

Methodist Home to host event in Greenville

The Methodist Home for Children will host First Chance for White Pants on May 29 at the Greenville Hilton from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event, to be hosted by WITN news anchor Carly Swain, will feature show-and-dance band Liquid Pleasure.

Urban Ministries to hold Tour D’ Coop

Urban Ministries of Wake County will hold its 10th annual Tour D’ Coop on May 17, a fundraising event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. featuring self-guided tours of urban chicken coops, gardens and bee hives throughout Raleigh and Cary.

Sponsors for the event include Whole Foods Market; Bev and Chuck Norwood; Exotic Animal Medicine and Emergency Service at the N.C. State Veterinary Health Complex; and Bryan Moore Group.

Carolina Tiger Rescue in Pittsboro won the 2014 Technology Innovation Award from Apparo, a Charlotte nonprofit that provides business and technology solutions for local nonprofits.

Sponsored by Accenture, the award offers winners $10,000 in funding, technology, business consulting, strategic council on engaging supporters, and access to technology specialists.

The award will allow Carolina Tiger Rescue to put technology into effect that will give volunteers an additional 1,500 hours a year to care for rescued wildcats.

UNC Medical School division to receive Make-A-Wish award

The Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will receive the Shooting Star Award to be presented by Make-A-Wish Eastern North Carolina at its 2014 Wish Ball on May 17.

The award is given each year to a medical professional or group in appreciation of their service and support of wish children, wish families and Make-A-Wish Eastern North Carolina.

Lawyers to provide birthday gifts to foster kids in Forsyth County

The Forsyth County Women Attorneys Association, Lowes Foods and the EACH Foundation are teaming up to provide a birthday gift and cake each month to every child in foster care through the Forsyth County Department of Social Services.

Through the initiative, known as Project Birthday, the Department of Social Services provides a list of wishes; members of the Women Attorneys Association recruit volunteer groups, including co-workers or friends, to sponsor a month; and members of that volunteer group buy a simple gift for each child who has a birthday that month.

Lowes Foods will donate a birthday cake to each child, and the EACH Foundation will help deliver gifts to the Department of Social Services and will accept cash donations.

Forsyth County has over 155 children in foster care.

Duke Endowment gives Duke University $7.5 million

The Duke Endowment in Charlotte has awarded Duke University in Durham $7.5 million for fellowships that will provide increased and year-round support for doctoral candidates at The Graduate School.

$325 million pricetag in North Carolina for teen childbearing

Teen childbearing in North Carolina cost taxpayers at least $325 million in 2010, according to an updated analysis from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Teen childbearing in the U.S. overall cost taxpayers $9.4 billion, the group says.

Teen births in North Carolina between 1991 and 2010 totaled 299,573, costing taxpayers a total of $8.4 billion for the period, the group says.

These public sector costs would have been higher had it not been for the substantial declines in teen childbearing, it says.

North Carolina has seen a 45 percent decline in the teen birth rate between 1991 and 2010, a decline that the group says may have saved taxpayers an estimated $389 million in 2010 alone, compared to what they would have paid had rates not fallen.

Golf tournament banks on birdies for charity

The Wyndham Championship, through its official charity, Wishes by Wyndham, has launched an initiative to support charities in the Piedmont Triad that provide backpacks of food for children in need.

Known as “Birdies Fore Backpacks,” the effort invites individuals and corporations to make one-time donations or pledges of a certain amount for every birdie made by professionals on the PGA tour during official tournament play at this summer’s 75th annual Wyndham Championship, to be held Aug. 11-17 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.

On average, professionals on the PGA tour make roughly 1,600 birdies during the Wyndham each year.

Wishes by Wyndham has already made a $50,000 kick-off donation to “Birdies Fore Backpacks,” toward the overall 2014 goal of $150,000.

United Way Worldwide names chief marketing officer

Vicki Lins, most recently executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Clear Channel Outdoor – North America, has been named executive vice president and chief marketing officer for United Way Worldwide.

She will oversee United Way’s brand, marketing and strategic communications divisions and will be responsible for brand innovation, creative development, media relations, affinity groups and strategic alliances such as the relationship between United Way and the National Football League.

K9 harness systems donated

Classic and friends of Classic donated $1,585 to provide three harness systems for the Special Operations K9 Unit at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.